European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde attends a press conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, Dec. 18, 2025. The ECB on Thursday announced that it would keep key interest rates unchanged amid tentative signs of economic stabilization in the eurozone.
The central bank staff reconfirmed in the latest edition of their forecast that inflation will swing around two percent from 2025 to 2028, with headline average inflation estimated at 2.1 percent in 2025, 1.9 percent in 2026, 1.8 percent in 2027, and 2.0 percent in 2028. (ECB/Handout via Xinhua)
FRANKFURT, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday announced that it would keep key interest rates unchanged amid tentative signs of economic stabilization in the eurozone.
The central bank staff reconfirmed in the latest edition of their forecast that inflation will swing around two percent from 2025 to 2028, with headline average inflation estimated at 2.1 percent in 2025, 1.9 percent in 2026, 1.8 percent in 2027, and 2.0 percent in 2028.
The interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations, and the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged at two percent, 2.15 percent, and 2.4 percent, respectively.
The ECB repeated in a statement that it is "not pre-committing to a particular rate path."
The projections reconfirm "inflation should stabilise at the two percent target in the medium term," said the ECB statement.
Thanks to stronger consumption and investment, the euro zone economy grew by 0.3 percent in the third quarter. The ECB expects domestic demand to continue to drive up the economic growth in the euro zone in the coming years.
Forecast of the euro zone economic growth has been revised up to 1.4 percent in 2025, 1.2 percent in 2026, 1.4 percent in 2027 and 1.4 percent in 2028.
The "robust labor market", according to the ECB, also contributed to the economic growth in the third quarter. Unemployment rate stood at 6.4 percent in October, which was close to the historical low.
"There is no reason for the central bank to change its policy stance any time soon, either to the upside or downside," commented Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, citing indicators that pointed to continued resilience.
Brzeski basically sees the ECB on hold for foreseeable future in a note. ■
